PRIVATE tour operators in Badian town in southwest Cebu have urged the Provincial Government to start the rehabilitation of Kawasan Falls so they can resume canyoneering operations and return to their livelihoods, after income losses brought by Kawasan’s closure breached P10 million.
However, more than a week after the popular tourist destination was closed to the public, there was no good news coming from the Capitol on this front Wednesday, June 14, 2023, which means the town, home to 700 tour guides, should brace for millions of pesos more in losses.
Mike Muñoz, president of the Association of Kawasan Canyoneering Operators in Badian (AKCOB), said although they support the rehabilitation initiative, many businesses have been impacted since the closure of the tourist site for rehabilitation.
“We are not against the closure but, if possible, our request is to speed up the rehabilitation operations so we can go back to our livelihood,” Muñoz told SunStar Cebu on Monday, June 12.
Clueless
He said the duration of the closure of Kawasan Falls is still indefinite, and he has no clue when the rehabilitation will begin or end.
Sources in the Capitol that SunStar reached out to on Wednesday, June 14, gave no timeline for the renovation, instead referring SunStar back to Executive Order (EO) 14 issued by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia ordering the temporary closure and suspension of canyoneering activities in Barangay Matutinao, Badian, Cebu “until further notice.”
Garcia issued EO 14 last June 2 in response to the discovery of debris and damaged structures abandoned more than a year after super typhoon Odette (Rai) struck Cebu in December 2021, “hazardous metallic spikes” and structures illegally built within Kawasan’s easement zones, as well as a “life-threatening dangerous passage of water” beside the abandoned Cebeco dam used as a canyoneering trail, all of which pose a risk to tourists and the general public.
Losing a million daily
According to the Badian tourism office, the town has been losing around P1.1 million in income daily due to the temporary closure order.
Earl Vincent Endab, tourism officer and information officer designate of Badian, said last June 7 that of the estimated amount, around P100,000 goes to the local government unit (LGU) daily while the rest goes to private tour operators.
Endab said each visitor pays P1,500 for the canyoneering activity, with P200 going to the LGU and P1,300 going to the tour operators, which includes the payment for tour guides and safety equipment. The tourist spot welcomed an average of 700 visitors daily.
Affected living
According to Muñoz, many locals who work as tour guides are no longer earning a living after canyoneering activities in Badian were halted.
He said 44 private tour operators rely on the canyoneering activities in Kawasan Falls that employ around 700 locals as tour guides.
Of the total number of tour operators in Kawasan Falls, 35 operators are under AKCOB.
“Many people will really lose their livelihood. Even now, many are already saying that they are not earning anything,” he said.
Despite the fact that canyoneering operations in the neighboring town of Alegria to the south are still permitted by the Cebu Provincial Capitol, he claimed that no tourists are visiting since they are more familiar with Badian’s offerings.
Muñoz said that in his team alone, he has employed eight locals as tour guides, and even more for other positions such as vendors, cooks and administration staff.
Switched to fishing
A tour guide for 10 years told SunStar Cebu that he was compelled to go fishing because he is no longer earning a living from working at Kawasan Falls.
“It really affected me. I am a married man with four children, and canyoneering was my main source of income,” said Jb Ortega, 30 years old, who works for another private tour operator.
He said the tour operator he works with employs 20 tour guides in addition to him. He said only four had been able to receive tourists since the closure.
“I hope the government will help us and give us support. Right now, even buying a kilo of rice is already a struggle for me,” said Ortega.
“If they cannot provide us help, just let us resume the canyoneering so we can earn,” he said, assuring that they can reopen the canyoneering activities without endangering the tourists by not letting them reach the third falls in Kawasan, where the illegal structures are located.
Rehabilitation
The Capitol will demolish the illegal structures found around the easement zones of Kawasan Falls.
Under Article 51, Chapter 4 of Presidential Decree 1067, it is prohibited to construct infrastructure near banks of rivers and streams in the country.
“The banks of rivers and streams and the shores of the seas and lakes throughout their entire length and within a zone of three meters in urban areas, 20 meters in agricultural areas and 40 meters in forest areas, along their margins, are subject to the easement of public use in the interest of recreation, navigation, floatage, fishing and salvage. No person shall be allowed to stay in this zone longer than what is necessary for recreation, navigation, floatage, fishing or salvage or to build structures of any kind,” the decree reads.